All-day
battery, 13-megapixel camera and waterproofing make this a great buy – even if
it’s a little more expensive

Motorola’s budget Moto G has grown
up, but does a better camera, waterproofing and new features justify a more
costly price tag?

Theoriginal Moto Gredefined what a budget smartphone
should be, when it launched in 2013. It was the first Android phone under £150
that wasn’t slow and infuriating to use, and it didn’t skimp where it matters.

Fast
forward two years and thethird
generation Moto Gprovides much
of what the original did right. But as smartphone technology has improved so
has budget hardware. Where the Moto G stood alone as a beacon of good in a sea
of rubbish, there are many more worth buying today.

So
Motorola has pushed improved features, build quality and battery life, but in
doing so it pushed the price to the very edge of the budget market.

The Moto G’s design has been refined
and takes afterMotorola’s Moto XandNexus 6 phones. The glass screen is
surrounded by metal-like plastic. The back now has a removable ribbed, curved
plastic back and a silver metal bar that holds the camera.

It’s a
simple design that’s easy to hold and won’t slip out of the hand. The build
quality is also noticeably improved over last year’s model.

Waterproofing
to IP67 standards means drops into 1m deep water for 30 minutes aren’t an
issue, while a removable back hides a microSD card slot for more storage, but
not a removable battery.

The curved
back and sides are ergonomic, but at 11.6mm thick the phone is quite chunky by
today’s sub-10mm standards. It isn’t noticeable in the hand, however.

The Moto
G’s 5in screen has a resolution of 720p HD with a pixel density of 294 pixels
per inch. It is noticeably crisper than thelower
resolution Moto E, but not as sharp as more expensive smartphones with 1080p or
higher resolution screens, such as theOnePlus
One,Samsung Galaxy S6orLG
G4.

Specifications

Screen:5in 720p HD display (294ppi)

Processor:1.4 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410

RAM:1GB of RAM (2GB on 16GB storage variant)

Storage:8/16GB + microSD card slot (up to 32GB)

Operating
system:Android 5.1.1
“Lollipop”

Camera:13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel
front-facing camera

Connectivity:4G, wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio and GPS

Dimensions:142.1 x 72.4 x 11.6 mm

Weight:155g

·The third generation Moto G has an upgraded 1.4GHz quad-core
Snapdragon 410 and a choice of 1GB or 2GB of RAM depending on the storage
variant.

·The version with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM, as tested,
feels slightly snappier than the previous generation Moto G, and is easily on
par with all but the very fastest of smartphones.

·The multitasking menu, which brings up a stack of cards showing
previously used applications, is particularly snappy – something even
smartphones costing £500 or more struggle with.

·The Moto G consistently lasted one full day of use up at 7am
with around 25% of battery left by 10pm in my testing, with constant push
email, lots of notifications, 60 minutes of music playback over Bluetooth, 1.5
hours of browsing and a bit of light gaming.

·Lighter usage should see the Moto G easily through two days
between charges.

Google’s
Android

The Moto G comes pre-loaded with
Google’s latest version ofAndroid
5.1.1 Lollipop, which is a refined, easy to use and attractive mobile operating
system.

Motorola
also provides a few of its apps, which can either be used or replaced with
others from Google or third-party developers. Of note is Moto actions which
allow users to set up automated tasks such as silencing their phone when they
get home or while in meetings, or motion controlled gestures such as a karate
chop, which turns on the flash for a torch. All work well.

Motorola’s
Migrate utility also helps switch from an iPhone, transferring contacts and
calendar entries as well as almost everything from anotherAndroidphone.

The Moto G’s camera is much
improvedover last year’s model.
The 13-megapixel camera is thesame
as used in the Nexus 6and
produces decent images with good detail, colour and good low-light performance.
It is considerably better than most of the competition.

The
five-megapixel selfie camera is solid, producing decent photos for viewing on
the phone. The photos lack detail at full resolution, however.

The simple
Motorola camera app can be rapidly activated by a twisting gesture even when
the phone is locked. Unlike most other camera applications, by default tapping
the screen takes a photo rather than focusing. Holding down the screen
activates burst fire, while sliding out from the left displays options and from
the right the gallery.

It’s
simple and works well most of the time, although occasionally it would miss
what I was trying to focus on. Manual focus and exposure controls are
available, but better third-party camera apps exist such as Google’s Camera
app.

Price

The third
generation Moto G costs £159 for 8GB and £209 for the 16GB version with 2GB of
RAM.

The Moto G
can also be customised using Motorola’s Moto Maker, to change the phone’s back,
front and side colours starting at £179.

The third generation Moto G is the
best yet. The build quality is excellent, the screen decent, the phone’s
performance snappy, and the camera is solid.

It feels
great in the hand and the ribbed back makes it easy to grip. The battery life
is also solid and waterproofing means it’ll survive a trip down the toilet. Not
many Android phones come with screens as small as 5in, meaning the Moto G is
arguably one of the best.

The
biggest problem is the price. The 16GB version with the 2GB of RAM is
recommended, but at £209 it is no longer very cheap, verging into the price
range of the likes ofthe OnePlus
One. Hopefully, like previous versions, it will drop in cost from third-party
retailers soon.

As it
stands the Moto G is arguably still the best budget smartphone available, even
if it’s not quite as cheap as it used to be.